11 December 2018
Wheelie bins will replace blue recycling crates in the Waipā district from July 2019.
Waipa District Council confirmed the change today after entering into a new kerbside recycling contract. The new contract will see recycling crates replaced by two purpose-built wheelie bins for each household: a 140-litre bin for glass (collected monthly) and a 240-litre bin for plastic, tins, cans, paper and cardboard (collected fortnightly). Wheelie bins will service both rural and urban households with potential to extend the service into commercial and industrial premises.
Council will offer a no-charge service for those residents unable to physically manage the bins. Details of that service are now being worked through.
Group manager - service delivery Barry Bergin said wheelie bins were already successfully used in most other parts of New Zealand and were considered best practice.
Many Waipā residents have been asking for wheelie bins for some time and their introduction was signalled in Council's waste management strategy. Between now and when the bins arrive next year, we will be putting a lot of effort into communicating the change and how it will work. But I think most people will be pleased.
As part of the contract, a brand new recycling sorting centre will be built in Te Awamutu, creating between 7-10 new jobs. The sorting centre will not be open to the public initially, although this might change in the future.
The improved recycling service and introduction of wheelie bins means the targeted recycling rate which funds the district-wide recycling service will increase. The increase has been driven by the one-off cost of the wheelie bins plus the collapse of the international recycling market given the decision by China to no longer accept New Zealand's recycling.
China's decision has driven costs up right around the country, not just in Waipā. That is simply the reality and we have to deal with it, Bergin said. Where Waipā's targeted recycling rate lands will be part of the discussion during next year's Annual Plan process.
The new recycling contract will have no impact on rubbish collection in the Waipā district. Rubbish collection will continue to be a private service offered to people on a user-pays basis only; rubbish collection is not managed by Council.
Council will also continue to put a strong emphasis on community-based waste minimisation programmes, currently funded by the Ministry for the Environment and run by Council staff, Bergin said.
We will continue to strongly encourage people to minimise their use of products like plastic and to think about how to reduce and reuse products before they even go into the recycling.
More information about the new kerbside recycling service is available here: www.waipadc.govt.nz/WheelieBins
Caption: Waipa District Council team leader Cedric Crow (left) and 87-year-old pensioner resident Patricia Daly take Waipā's new wheelie bins for a spin.